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Rosemary’s Baby. Directed by Roman Polanski.
This film follows Rosemary Woodhouse as she tries to protect herself and her baby after she becomes unknowingly entangled in a witchcraft plot where she is raped and impregnated by the devil. Annotation Rosemary’s Baby. Dir. Roman Polanski. Perf. Mia Farrow. Paramount Pictures, 1968. Film. Annotated Bibliography Entry (...? Edit into more complete thoughts, paragraphs, etc. in an order that makes sense) If Guy buys fully into the patriarchy/patriarchal control, he stands to benefit greatly. It’s funny that following the rape, Guy (which, PS, is a very obvious name to use for this theory as it is so tied to male identity) slaps her on the ass to wake her up and demands that she get up and cook him breakfast. When she rebels, telling him to dine out, he replies “Like Hell I will,” the thought of having to supply himself with food, even if through a simple money transaction, is considered preposterous. In this portion, he touches her body sexually (objectification) and demands she perform domestic duties (typically female gender role), cementing his control over her, his relationship to her as a sex object/toy (from whom he requires no consent, i.e. the “necrophilic” rape fantasy) and as a domestic worker/slave (a wife and mommy, both to him feeds him and just the latter to their offspring sex for the baby, but food, yes.) Her upkeep of the domestic space and the care she provides for him and his children (without payment) allows him to go into the larger world, including the working world, where he can take any and all opportunities offered to him without worrying about conflicts with his other responsibilities (parenting, housework, etc.). He rapes Rosemary with the patriarchal system (in this case represented by the Devil or Rosemary could just see him as a violent, oppressive, and evil force like the Devil if he is drugging and raping her for his own pure pleasure and entirely without her consent. More reason why I think “the Devil” is really just Guy transformed as a rapist husband so he is (somewhat) easier for Rosemary to hand psychologically. In the rape sequence, the images flash in this sequence: normal Guy face --> slightly dirty/scaly Guy face, dirty but human hands on Rosemary’s body --> scaly and furry Devil’s hands on Rosemary’s body (penetration has yet to occur at this point) --> when vaginal penetration occurs, Rosemary wakes up and sees the Devil’s eyes which are completely “unhuman” as they glow red and are surrounded by bumps/scales and fur; at this point, Rosemary exclaims “This is no dream, this is really happening!” When she wakes up, she says, “ I dreamed someone was raping me.” This is because, no matter how you understand the scene, someone was raping her. Whether Guy literally through his intramarital rape, the literal Devil, or Guy transformed/understood as the Devil in image/form, Rosemary was raped. This pretty much predisposes her to a high level of maternal ambivalence as the conception of the child holds many negative, charged memories and images. Guy even tries to touch her and make excuses for it the morning after but the damage is done. Rosemary shies away from his touch and the couple begins to grow apart. There are several shots of Guy later in the movie curled up and far away from Rosemary on the bed. She mentions the lack of eye contact between them and he becomes overly apologetic, shifty, and acts as though he’s guilty. And he is, as a rapist and active participant/manipulator of the patriarchal system, an unfair structure he stands to profit greatly from. He rapes her and then uses the resulting pregnancy to tie Rosemary down with patriarchal standards and gender roles surrounding the labels “woman,” “wife,” and “mother.” By impregnating her, Guy ensures that she essentially never leaves the house again and loses contact with any and all friends except those he approves of. This isolation, the physical dissolution of Rosemary’s body (her weight, her health, etc.), and her self-identity loss (usually marked by her social network, friends, extra-marital activities), all become markers of motherhood. The baby leeches from and drastically changes the body, removes the mother from her normal behaviors and circles of friends. Guy, by burdening Rosemary and Rosemary alone with household and childcare duties, is free to work, advance his career, and go out as often as he pleases without having to ask permission. Guy, as his benefits from his manipulation of the patriarchal structure of society accrue, becomes more “typically masculine.” He becomes more controlling, refers to other women as “bitches” (defining them as animals in “reproductive mode” only; single identity tied to motherhood), and gets louder and more physically aggressive around Rosemary. When they argue immediately before the baby starts moving, Guy slaps his hand against the opposite palm, making a loud clapping/smacking noise. He moves his arms and fists around, gesturing wildly and taking up lots of space, and he throws crumbs from the couch onto the table with an unnecessary amount of force. Motherhood becomes a weapon used by men to control and restrain women to a specific space (the home) and guarantee their own masculine dominance. Minnie is left still cleaning/repairing the scratched floor in the final scene (links back to the first dinner sequence where she must clean up the alcohol Roman spilled from the carpet); Laura-Louise is working on her needle-point (as always); Rosemary drops her knife (a potential power through “masculine” active/agentive violence with a phallic signifier) and passively assumes the role of mother, falling into/accepting the patriarchy/patriarchal expectations of her as a woman, mother, and wife, and perpetuating it by raising her Satan spawn son, the symbol of male dominance, rape, and control of women’s bodies, power, and resources (i.e. domestic labor). When Rosemary has the knife at the end of the movie and is assertively/aggressively gripping it, people shut up when she walks in, they listen to her and have respect for her (or at least the threatening phallic symbol it represents). Once her grip loosens and the knife falls, all she has done is left a chip in Minnie’s wooden floor. She falls into a chair, fades into the background, and the party continues with people talking over her. The people who speak with her afterwards do so individually and in disrespectful and/or condescending tones. When Rosemary finds out that Guy threw away her book from Hutch (a symbol of old friends who care for her and rebellion against Dr. Saperstein’s “don’t read books” advice), she becomes careless, reckless. She, full-belly pregnant and suspicious of Guy and everyone around her, walks haphazardly into a street with lots of oncoming traffic, endangering herself and the baby. Once across the street she removes the pendant and drops it into a sewer drain. This is symbolic of her refusal or push back against the societal definition of what a child/motherhood should mean to a woman. She wishes to define her own relationship to the baby (as is evident in her later dream in which Guy is absent and instead there are suggestions of a greater kinship or communal model of child rearing) instead of taking on the constrictive model that dominates in society, one she was given, didn’t ask for, doesn’t want to wear, but is guilted into accepting because of external pressures (as with Guy and his “guilt trip” over Rosemary taking the pendant but then refusing to wear it). She refuses to accept and wear this “ball and chain” (i.e. “normal” societal notions of marriage and motherhood) so she drops it into a dirty, wet hole (soiled womb/vagina imagery linked with the baby “bal” image). (1:36:25-1:36:40) During a conversation with the magically blinded actor competing with/beating Guy out for roles, the actor, Donald Baumgart, says Rosemary must be happy “living in the Bram. Rows of uniformed lackeys.” (1:37:49-1:37:51) This is a reference to the black (racialized “other”) elevator operator. Donald Baumgart is not disillusioned by class and race inequalities. He knows the position Guy and Rosemary occupy as white middle class citizens. He does not ignore the system and benefits of prejudice he accrues simply because he gains from it (as a male; though he race is not mentioned, I believe it is safe to assume, given the time period and more generally the impact of racism in the media/movies, that Baumgart is also white as he was competing for the same roles as Guy, who appears white, and getting more callbacks than him, something that would be less likely if Baumgart had a different skin tone or ethnicity). Baumgart is vocally aware (as it is implied by his sarcastic tone in this moment) and against such systems and prejudices. Think back to Rosemary’s drug/rape when she, again, sees (but doesn’t speak to) the black elevator operator who is now driving the ship (I’m fairly sure the same actor plays both roles, though I’ve had difficulty confirming this). He says, “You better get down below, miss,” a reference to her inferiority and the need/pressure for her to willfully go into a passive/lesser role and to make herself invisible/removed from sight by going into the “belly” of the ship versus remaining on the deck. As the movie progresses, Rosemary seems to become more aware of bodies that are racialized as “other” around her, though more specifically, African-American bodies. She trusts them in key moments and begins to speak with them instead of just looking at them (as with the taxi driver outside of Dr. Hill’s office). Quotes and Notes Eating of kids, dead infant; witches as particularly female gendered monsters; related to the idea of children-eating women; the ultimate harming, uncaring, and unnatural; anti-mother figures (7:50-8:50) Depression and “no reason for self-destruction;” severe depression every three weeks --> suggesting intense PMS? (17:30-18:00) Think about the connection of menarche and the power of spells/witchcraft mentioned in [http://monster-mothers.wikia.com/wiki/Creed,_Barbara._The_Monstrous-Feminine. The Monstrous-Feminine]. It’s funny that following the rape, Guy (which, PS, is a very obvious name to use for this theory as it is so blatantly gendered male) slaps her on the ass to wake her up and demands that she get up and cook him breakfast. When she rebels, telling him to dine out, he replies, “Like Hell I will,” the thought of having to supply himself with food is considered preposterous. In this portion he touches her body sexually (objectificiation) and demands that she perform domestic duties (typically female gender roles), cementing his control over her, his relationship to her as a sex object/toy (from whom he needs no consent, i.e. the “necrophilic” rape fantasy) and as a domestic worker/slave (a wife and mommy, both to him (she feeds and sexually satisfies him), and just the latter to their offspring (no sex for the baby, but food, yes). In the boat portion of the rape dream, when Hutch is left on shore, Rosemary is told it’s “Catholics only. I wish we weren’t bound by the prejudices…” Prejudices plural, awareness of the interconnectedness of different oppressions Rosemary: “It hurts less when I move around.” (1:03:03-1:03:14) Mobility counters the pain the baby creates. Only able to cope with the baby (an event that would largely tie a woman like Rosemary to the house) when she can move --> link to “ball and chain” necklace symbol Baby sapping her weight, energy, and happiness She becomes hyper-pale (almost like a ghost or vampire) when she’s sick Cuts off her hair when she learns she’s pregnant --> destroys a marker of her femininity in the beginning of the standard woman milestone, motherhood Rebellion against gender norms --> Guy repeatedly tells her it’s a bad decision or a mistake, that it isn’t the illness associated with her pregnancy that is making her look bad but the haircut Rosemary: “Pain be gone. I will have no more of thee.” (1:10:50-1:11:00) Referring to the child and pain it brings/creates The baby and the pain it gives Rosemary keeps her locked up/isolated in the house Freaky music and the reflection of Rosemary’s sick/wasted away face in a window covering a Virgin Mary/Baby Jesus statue display (1:12:30-1:12:45) The ultimate good mother versus the image of a “bad mother,” a soon-to-be mother who is eaten away by her child, diminished, rather than fulfilled and glowing with joy Significance of the necklace/pendant Said to be “good luck” as a cover-up. Used to help the demon baby be conceived and grow. It’s literally a ball and chain. They point out the guy (male, patriarchy, active in the impregnation ceremony) who himself made the chain, placing an emphasis on the locking, jailing, limiting, confining tool/device Recurrence of the chain --> Rosemary tries to use the chain on the door to keep out Roman/the bad guys (1:30:45-1:31:00) and again later in the movie, this time to keep her husband out as well (didn’t make note of the time this occurred; sometime around the 2 hour mark) Scene of Rosemary crying in pain during the “young friends” party (1:19:05-1:20:45) The women in the kitchen trying to help seen as a threat by Guy. They have to physically bar him from the room. They poo-poo the male doctor’s advice and try to rely on what the body itself is saying (so in Rosemary, the pain is signifying that something is wrong). Trying to let the female body speak and be heard, not ignored or invalidated, links to the ideology in the Cixous article “Laugh of the Medusa”. Rosemary: “It hurts so much. I’m so afraid the baby’s gonna die.” The fetus is literally killing her and all she worries about is its life/safety/survival Friend 1: “Rosemary, pain like that is a warning that something isn’t right.” Friend 2: “Nobody’s telling you to get an abortion. Just go to see another doctor, that’s all.” Rosemary’s outright abortion refusal does seem to come out of nowhere. Perhaps her own repressed desires that the baby will die (if it means the pain will stop) are surfacing? Or just trying to come off as a good/dedicated mother to the fetus? As Rosemary progresses further into her pregnancy (a typical female role), Guy becomes more loud, angry, and abusively isolating --> calls her friends “bitches,” refuses to let her go see Dr. Hill Baby only comes to life/the pain only stops when Rosemary truly becomes angry, physically stands up to Guy, and tries to assert agency, autonomy, and moves towards finding her own financial resources to see Dr. Hill (1:21:45-1:22:05) Rosemary: “Not fair to-- What are you talking about? What about what’s fair to me?” Everyone (meaning the male witches, essentially; no females are shown on screen minimizing Rosemary’s pain, though it is probably safe to assume Minnie and Laura-Louise would have done so) acts as though Rosemary’s pain isn’t something that is “real,” and just keep insisting that she needs to push through a little longer, that it’s “normal” and anyone who says otherwise is stupid and shouldn’t be listened to or trusted When the baby starts moving, Rosemary says that the drink she has been making for herself includes eggs (fertility symbol), milk (mother symbol), and sugar (i.e. sweetness, proper motherly behavior) Fear that Roman will be like his father, Adrian Marcato (the witch) Interesting anxiety about paternal traits transferring to offspring, especially considering the rape Satan spawn Also, on the “Satan spawn” note, consider the impact, baby hate, and ambivalence, Rosemary must feel after the Devil rape (or, even if we assume Satan is a stand-in/transformation of the abusive Guy, the intramarital rape); bad/traumatic conception --> the baby is associated with pain and misery that physically manifests Rosemary: “They use blood in their rituals and the blood that has the most power is baby’s blood. And they don’t just use the blood, they use the flesh, too.” (1:33:05-1:33:14) Again, witches as child hurters/murderers --> though this is a mixed gendered group (possible implications?) Rosemary: “I’m not taking any chances with the baby’s safety.” (1:33:23-1:33:27) Guy hides the book on witchcraft from Hutch out of Rosemary’s reach by laying it on top of two books whose titles clearly read Sexual Behavior in the Human Female and Sexual Behavior in the Human Male Gender binary; Satan/witchcraft touching both and essentially holding them down. Try to move one of the books and evil (patriarchy) will fall and smack you in the face. Rosemary: “I can’t take even the slightest chance where the baby’s safety is concerned.” Dr. Saperstein: “Absolutely. Any mother would feel the same way.” (1:34:12-1:34:16) Dr. Saperstein sounds very patronizing and belittling when he says this. When Rosemary finds out that Guy threw away her book from Hutch (a symbol of old friends who care for her and a rebellion against Dr. Saperstein’s “don’t read books” advice), she becomes careless/reckless. She full-belly pregnant and suspicious of Guy and everyone around her, walks haphazardly into a street with lots of oncoming traffic, endangering herself and the baby. Once across the street, she removes the pendant and drops it into a sewer drain --> refusal to accept/wear the “ball and chain” (i.e. marriage and motherhood) so drops it into a dirty, wet hole (soiled womb/vagina imagery linked with the baby “ball” image) (1:36:25-1:36:40) During a conversation with the magically blinded actor competing with/beating Guy out for roles, Donald Baumgart says Rosemary must be happy, “Living in the Bram. Rows of uniformed lackeys.” (1:37:49-1:37:51) Reference to the black elevator operator. Donald Baumgart is not disillusioned by class and race inequalities. He knows the position Guy and Rosemary occupy as white middle class citizens. He does not ignore the system and benefits of prejudice he accrues simply because he gains from it. He is vocally aware (and it is implied by his sarcastic tone) and against it. Think about Rosemary’s drug/rape scene when she again sees the black elevator operator driving the ship (I think it’s the same actor). He says, “You better get down below, Miss,” a reference to her inferiority and the need (pressure) for her to willfully go into the passive/lesser role. Rosemary: “Guy and I are both very unhappy that he got his break because of your misfortune.” (1:38:10-1:38:14) When saying this line and this line only, Rosemary is standing up, her head and breasts are off screen. Only her pregnant belly, her arm/hand, and the cord of the telephone are shown. She holds the cord in her hand in front of her stomach (almost an umbilical cord image). The focus of the shot on her pregnant belly and the “umbilical cord” image combined with the idea of one’s gain through another’s loss, though directly referring to Baumgart’s blindness (as Rosemary’s “lifeline”/umbilical cord explicitly connects her to Baumgart at this point), creates the idea that the baby is a leech in a similar way to Guy and reminds the viewer of Guy’s manipulation of Rosemary as a wife/mother to enable him to take advantage of his “break” and expand his career. Rosemary is unhappy that Guy got a break and gets to move and act, do what he wants, while she is saddled with this unavoidable “misfortune;” her livelihood and her body are sacrificed quite literally for his benefit though the rape by Satan (GUY sold her soul, she had no say in the matter) --> seen in her own dissatisfaction in the marriage even before she becomes pregnant (the conversation she has with Hutch in which she breaks down). She is confined to the house, expected to get it all in order and as soon as that’s finished, start pumping out kids. Rosemary: “Don’t you worry little Andy or Jenny, I’ll kill them before I let them touch you.” (1:44:30-1:44:39) Aggression towards the witches, but not the baby itself. Desires a pure relationship with her baby that is untainted by societal expectations of motherhood. Perhaps it is worth considering that all of the witches are old. Generational divisions may create different, archaic, or clashing ideas about “motherhood” that are more “old-fashioned” and restrictive to women. Thus, a mistrust of the witches or desire to get away and receive younger feedback (female friends at the party and Dr. Hill vs. Dr. Saperstein) may be a desire for newer, more “progressive” interpretations of proper womanly/motherly obligations. Rosemary: “Dr. Hill, there’s a plot. I know that sounds crazy. You’re probably thinking, ‘My God, this poor girl has really flipped.’ But I haven’t flipped, Dr. Hill. I swear by all the saints I haven’t. There are plots against people, aren’t there?...Well, there’s one against me and my baby.” “Plot” referring to greater social structures and hierarchies (racism --> the elevator operator and sexism --> motherhood corrupt constraints and expectations) Sexism and sexist gender stereotypical overidealized standards corrupt “true” mother-child bonding that is more emotionally fluid/ambivalent Rosemary, shortly after this conversation, speaks to and trusts a black cab driver to watch her and make sure she enters Dr. Hill’s clinic safely. Solidarity across oppressions. Before this scene, she never speaks to any black men, just looks at them. Rosemary, looking at the pills Dr. Saperstein gave her says, “Monsters. Monsters. Unspeakable. Unspeakable.” Presumably referring to their witchcraft and desire to hurt her baby, use its body in rituals, and potentially cannibalize it. The thought of hurting a child is so “monstrous” that it becomes an “unspeakable” crime, too evil to even be discussed or considered. Rosemary, in Dr. Hill’s clean, “safe” clinic dreams she is holding her baby lovingly, surrounded by old, supportive friends (no Guy, no Minnie, no Roman) Dr. Hill calls Dr. Saperstein and Guy, her male “keepers,” to take care of her, quiet her, and presumably talk (or knock) some “sense” into her (1:52:27-1:52:55) Dr. Saperstein: “Come with us quietly, Rosemary. Don’t argue or make a scene, because if you say anything more about witches or witchcraft, we’re going to be forced to take you to a mental hospital.” (emphasis mine) Everyone is in on the patriarchal (witchcraft) plot. Even Dr. Hill betrays Rosemary’s trust and doesn’t buy into her story. Even if he doesn’t intent to harm her and genuinely is trying to help her, he still buys into the system and passively participates. No one trusts that what Rosemary says has any truth, value, or weight. Her insistence of her bodily pain goes ignored, pushed off, even though it is crippling to her. Her well supported and thoroughly thought out thesis on the witchcraft plot is brushed off. Dr. Saperstein’s treatment of Rosemary, his silencing of her and attempt to “domesticate” and make her submissive with threats of institutionalization, remind me of the treatment of hysterical women in the early 1900s. Rebellious, sexual, non-gender conforming women were treated as crazy women. You talk about patriarchy and sexism? Knock it off, shut up or we will lock you up. Guy: “We just want to take you home. No one’s gonna hurt you.” (emphasis mine) “Hurt” based on Guy’s definition; ignores how Rosemary suffers when she is continually isolated from her friends, how greatly Guy’s belittling behavior harms her, don’t consider their restraint and forced sedation of her “hurting” her in any way. Attempting to escape Guy and Dr. Saperstein, Rosemary acts as the elevator operator, she both becomes her own mover/controls her motion and acts as one of the “lackeys” Baumgart mentioned. Again, solidarity and making parallels between racial and gender oppression. What was going on historically in 1966 (setting of the movie) with the civil rights movement and women’s rights. Desire for a hospital that is “clean and sterile...with nurses” --> pure, good birth and mothering; nurses (female) solidarity through gender; this is also evident in her last ditch effort to call Elise. Note that in Dr. Saperstein’s office there is never a nurse present during consultations, versus her single visit to Dr. Hill in which a female nurse draws Rosemary’s blood Before passing out, Rosemary yells: “Oh Andy--Andy or Jenny. I’m sorry, my little darling. Forgive me!” Upset because she couldn’t protect the baby from a corrupt society or better provide for it. Still blamed for the “death” of the baby later After giving birth to the baby and learning that it’s a boy, Rosemary turns her head towards the window to gaze outside; the camera follows her gaze Outside/inside sphere --> implications for Rosemary of trapped-ness, implications for male baby of freedom Dr. Saperstein: “...Dead. It was in the wrong position. In a hospital, I might’ve been able to do something, but you wouldn’t listen.” Blames Rosemary and her rebellion/refusal to be submissive for the baby’s death. Guy says she had the “prepartum crazies.” First sign that she is falling into/buying into submissive motherhood roles is when Guy has no mark on his shoulder and she looks confused, doubtful (of herself and her logic). Immediately following this scene she starts to hear the baby crying. Rosemary, when she sneaks to see the baby, is wearing a white nightgown which she covers with a blue housecoat. She looks like the fucking Virgin Mary. Think back to the window scene. Rosemary submits and becomes the ultimate good mother to the ultimate bad baby. Removal of linens from the closet to reveal the door to the baby, the truth of the situation. Crib with baby doll inside starts rocking when she bumps into it; she stops the rocking with her knife. When Rosemary has the knife at the end of the movie and is assertively/aggressively gripping it, people shut up when she walks in, they listen to her and have respect for her (or at least her violence and the threatening phallic symbol). Once her grip loosens and the knife falls, all she has done is left a small chip in Minnie’s wooden floor (which Minnie quickly smooths over by just running her finger across it). Any power that Rosemary had only came from the threat of violence and by taking on angry, “male” characteristics. Once this is lost, she has made no deep, long lasting impact on any aspect of her life or the lives of those around her...so she, broken down, submits. Roman: “Why don’t you help us out, Rosemary. Be a real mother to Adrian. You don’t have to join if you don’t want to. Just be a mother to your baby. Minnie and Laura-Louise are too old. It’s not right.” (2:11:50-2:12:10) Witch 1 to Laura-Louise: “You shut up. Rosemary’s his mother so you show some respect.” Guy: “They, uh, promised me you wouldn’t be hurt and you haven’t been, really. I mean supposing you had the baby and you lost it? Wouldn’t that be the same? And we’re getting so much in return, Ro.” Rosemary spits on his face in response. “We” are not getting a lot, Guy is. Rosemary, even if it’s just in losing her baby, is still tremendously hurt psychologically. Not to mention the fact that she is raped in the beginning of the movie. Hullo! Rosemary: “You’re trying to get me to be his mother.” Roman: “Aren’t you his mother?” The pull tab on the shade is shown as the camera moves past Rosemary’s smiling face before showing the “above the city” shot for the credits. It is a circle on a string --> the “ball and chain” image repeated as she reaches to touch and sooth the baby, as she accepts motherhood. Consider also, the last name “Woodhouse” Combined with the lullaby at the beginning and end of the movie, it reminds me of fairy tales and children so, essentially, I think of the “stick house” in the “Three Little Pigs” story (house easily destroyed but stronger than straw; an illusion of strength) and of a doll house (Henrik Ibsen’s play about a housewife losing it, A Doll’s House), the typically girl’s toy where one reenacts and learns to recreate typical gender roles and norms by playing “house” with dolls.